Let us turn to God's Word and
the portion we were looking at this morning in Philippians chapter
3 I'll read again those verses that
we read this morning Philippians 3 and verses 17, 18 and 19 Brethren,
be followers together of me and mark them which walk so as ye
have us for an ensemble For many walk, of whom I have told you
often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies
of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose God
is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly
things." Well, this morning we considered
more particularly what the Apostle says here at verse 17. the exhortation. Brethren, be followers together
of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have asked for an ensample. Following the Apostle as he was
following the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what he says back in 1
Corinthians 11 and verse 1. Be ye followers of me even as
I also am a follower of Christ. He speaks not only of himself
as we saw this morning when he makes mention of the pattern
or an ensemble is the word that we have at the end of the 17th
verse but he uses the plural as you
have us, not me, as you have us for an ensemble and we remarked
He does speak of course of Timothy there in chapter 2 at verse 19
following and also Epaphroditus in that same chapter at verse
25. These were those men who were the servants of Christ and
they not only preach the gospel of Christ but they sought to
live to the honor and glory of his name and he wants that they
should be followers of such men as this well we did make certain
remarks with regards to what he says in verses 18 and 19 these
bracketed verses that really form a parenthesis because as
i said this morning the the thought that he has there in verse 17
is really carried on in verse 20 our conversation speaking
of these godly men our citizenship literally is in heaven from whence
also we look for the Savior the Lord Jesus Christ but we have
this passage in verses 18 and 19 which is a little aside as
it were and it's interesting because We can contrast what
he says here with what he had said previously in the chapter,
at the beginning of the chapter. He's very much warning them of
those legalists who want to bring them under the yoke of the law.
Those who are contending that these Christians, these Gentile
believers need to submit to Jewish circumcision. And Paul says,
doesn't he, at verse 2, beware of dogs, beware of evil workers,
beware of the concision, and not the circumcision. Concision
is a reference to illegal cuttings, as it were. We are the circumcision,
which worship God in the spirit and rejoice in Christ Jesus and
have no confidence in the flesh. He warns them then against any
trust in any of those legal practices, the ways of the Jews, the ways
of the Pharisees and so forth. And he knows what he's talking
about because he was once of that sect. Verse 4, Though I
might also have confidence in the flesh, if any man thinketh
that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more. Oh,
what a pedigree this man has! Circumcised, he hates dying.
of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, and Hebrew
of the Hebrews, as touching the law of Pharisee. Why? He was
the son of a Pharisee. He'd been scored at the feet
of one of the great Pharisees, Gamaliel, as touching the law
of Pharisee, concerning zeal, persecuting the church. He was
a persecutor of these Christians because he considered it to be
a false way. of himself he would say touching
the righteousness which is in the law blameless. He was a self-righteous
man. He looked to the law for all
his salvation. So he knows what he is talking
about. Now when we come to this parenthesis
and I want us really to consider these two verses 18 and 19 tonight. When we come to these two verses He says at the end of verse 19
of these people that they mind earthly things. They mind earthly
things. And some say that he's still
really referring to that trust in ceremonies. Those who are looking to the
Lord of Moses and the observance of various rituals and so forth. However, it's interesting that
John Calvin simply makes the comment, I prefer to refer it
to carnal affection. the expression that they mind
earthly things. It's not to do with them trusting
in ceremonies and outward observances and various rituals. It's nothing
at all to do with that. And I believe that the Protestant
reformer Calvin is right when he says that what is being spoken
of in these verses 18 and 19 has to do with the carnal affections. And really that's the theme that
I want to take up tonight. that of the carnal mind. Many
walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even
weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ, whose
end is destruction, whose God is their belly, whose glory is
in their shame, who mind earthly things. The carnal mind, those
who are sensual and licentious, those whose living is best described
as being loose and lawless. And so in that sense there's
a contrast really between the ones he's speaking of here and
those that he had spoken of at the beginning of the chapter.
These are the two extremes. And I remarked this morning how
we're all prone to go to extremes. We go one way and we see that
that's the wrong way and what do we do? We swing over and we
go the other way. We go from one extreme to the
other. When Paul is writing in the Galatian
Epistle, he's very much dealing with the matter of legality and
those who want to bring them under the yoke of the Lord of
God. But then he's also very much aware of the danger of an
overreaction. He says in chapter 5 of that
Galatian Epistle, Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith
Christ hath made us free, be not entangled again with the
yoke of bondage. But then he has to say at verse
13, Brethren, ye have been called unto liberty, only use not liberty
for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.
He's a mindful then of these extremes and as I said this morning
there's extremes on each side and the narrow way is very much
in the middle and we're prone to go one way or the other. And so he is one who seeks to
walk in that right way, that narrow way that leads to life.
And he says, brethren be followers together of me. mark them which
walk so as ye have us for an example to walk in the footsteps
of the apostle who is seeking to walk in the footsteps of the
Lord Jesus Christ and ultimately of course it's
not so much Paul, who is the great pattern, or Timothy, or
Epaphroditus, we know it is Christ. Let this mind be in you, which
was also in Christ Jesus. He says there in verse 5 of chapter
2, and then he goes on to speak of the humiliation of the Lord
Jesus, the obedience of the Lord Jesus, the mind of Christ. But how different is what we
have here in the text, the carnal mind that's spoken of in these
two verses? Well, let's come to consider
something of what he said here concerning the carnal mind. And
I want to deal with some four headings as we look at these
verses, these parentheses tonight. First of all, he speaks of the
glory of the carnal mind. And what does he say there in
the middle of verse 19? Whose glory is in their shame. That's their glory, the carnal
minded man glories in his shame. What are these? They're positive
sinners. They glory in their sins. And we know how there ever were
such, how Jeremiah us to deal with such characters. He says
there in Jeremiah 9.5, they will deceive everyone his neighbor
and will not speak the truth. They have taught their tongue
to speak lies and weary themselves to commit iniquity. They glory in doing those things
that are contrary to the commandments of God, the ways of God. Paul
says here in Ephesians 5, And verse 12, it is a shame even
to speak of those things which are done of them in secret. They
glory in their sin. They are bold to transgress the
commandments of God. And now the carnal mind is that
sort of mind that engages in false reasoning. When we think
of the carnal mind I might say, in religious terms. How does
the carnal-minded man reason? Why, he says, to be free and
to be bold in sinning will only magnify the grace of God. That's
how he reasons. Where sin abounds, grace does
so much more abound. Well, if that's the case, let's
sin. And then we'll know more and
more the greater boundings of the grace of God. But what does
Paul say against such foolish reasoning as that? There we looked
at the passage this morning in Romans 6. What shall we say then?
Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid! How shall we that are dead to
sin live any longer therein? And then he goes on, doesn't
he, to remind us of what's set before us in baptism, how the
believer is immersed, it's a watery grave, he's buried with Christ,
and then he rises out of the water, he rises with Christ.
If any man be in Christ, he's a new creation, or the following,
the false reasonings of those who are the carnally minded. Again he says in Romans 3.8 and
not as we be slanderously reported, and as some affirm that we say,
let us do evil, that goods may come, whose damnation is just."
We're not to be carnal-minded in any of our reasonings. These
people are glorying in their shame. And it's a folly, the
foolishness of glorying in sin. But besides the glory of the
carnal mind, he also goes on to say something more here. He
speaks of the gods of the carnal mind. What does he say? Whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame.
Their gods is their belly. And it's not the only time that
he makes such a statement. We have it also in Romans, Romans
16, 18 and such. Serve not our Lord Jesus Christ
but their own belly. Whose servants are they? Whose
servants are they? Are they the servants of God?
Are they the servants of the Lord Jesus Christ? They're servants
of those whom they Obey! That's what Paul says in Romans
6 verse 16. Know ye not that to whom ye hewed
yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye
obey, whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness. Why are they serving sin? They are the servants of sin. They are looking to themselves,
they are their own gods, whose god is their belly. The word that we have here, the
belly, doesn't refer to their physical appetite. It's not really
referring to the partaking of foods. But rather are we to understand
the word in terms of the carnal nature. You say carnal nature,
They are simply serving themselves. They are satisfying all their
base desires. All the lust of the flesh, they
just want to please themselves. All they have desires, and what
desires they have. Doesn't Paul speak of covetousness
as idolatry? There in Colossians 3.5 he says,
Covetousness which is idolatry. What is covetousness? It's desire. It's seeing something that's
not yours and desiring it and wanting it. It's a matter not
so much of the deed, it's a matter of the attitude of the mind and
of the heart. And we know it was that 10th
commandment, Thou shalt not covet, that really was used of the Lord
God to convince saw the Pharisee of the reality of his sin. He
knew nothing of what sin was when he was that proud self-righteous
Pharisee. He thought he was an expert in
the law of God. He thought he was such a religious
man and yet he didn't understand anything at all. Isn't that really
what he is saying in that portion that we read in Romans chapter
7? But it was when God brought home
the commandment, the tenth commandment, Thou shalt not covet. And then he began to see the
sin of his carnal nature. That was his experience. His
heart was full of concupiscence. It was full of all sinful desire. Remember the words that we were
reading just now. He says there at verse 7, Nay,
I had not known sin, but by the law. For I had not known lust,
except the Lord had said, Thou shalt not covet. But sin taking
occasion by the commandment wrought in me all manner of concupiscence.
Now, really concupiscence is the same word as we have rendered
lust in verse 7. They are interchangeable these
words. I had not known lust or concupiscence except the Lord
had said they shall not covet. But sin taking occasion by the
commandment brought in me all manner of concupiscence or lust. What is it? It's all sinful desire.
For without the law, sin was dead. For I was alive without
the law once. But when the commandment came,
sin revived and I died. Oh, he thought he was alive when
he was a Pharisee, he thought he was the most religious man
and so much to commend himself to God. But then the commandment
comes and it slays him. Sin taking occasion by the commandment
deceived me and by it slew me, he says. Oh, he is brought to
understanding what he is, the carnal mind, that mind of temerity
against God that's not subject to the law of God, neither indeed
can be. To be carnally minded, he says,
is death. To be spiritually minded is life. We must have the mind of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Let this mind be in you which
is also in Christ Jesus, to be delivered from the carnal mind.
it only brings death and Paul was so aware of this awful conflict
between what he was as a natural man with a carnal mind and what
he had become by the grace of God and that's what he's writing
of there in Romans 7 of course and he feels it so acutely as
we said this morning he's a man of very real feelings even as
he writes to these Philippians we see that in the language of the text many
walk of whom I have told you often and now tell you even weeping
oh this man has a feeling religion these things grieve him and he
wants to convey to these Philippians the great danger of the carnal
mind I keep under my body, he says, and bring it into subjection. That's what his desire is, not
to satisfy self, not to make a God of his belly, a God of
his desires. Oh no, the dearest idol I have
known, what heir that idol be, help me to tear it from my throne
and worship only thee. This is Paul. This is a religion
of Paul, and as I said this morning, we are to be those who would
be the followers. We are to mark them which walk
so as ye have asked for an ensample, a pattern, as I said this morning.
As we are familiar with there in 1 Timothy 1.16, is a pattern
to them which ye thereafter believe. I said it before, I think The
person who used to make much of that verse, from what I can
recall, was dear old Sidney Norton. He'd say, you know, Paul is the
pattern. Not that we're followers of Paul. We're followers of Paul
as he is a follower of Christ. But in his goodness, God has
given us a man who's a pattern of what it means to have saving
faith, justifying faith. And it's this man. Not that we're
going to have the same experiences because we're not called to be
apostles. he's the pattern believer and he's the man isn't he who
reminds us of what the Christian is why the Christian is one who
is the temple of the Holy Spirit we know the language of Paul
there in 1st Corinthians 6 what does he say Let me find the passage. It's 2 Corinthians 6, isn't it,
where he speaks of the believers that one who is the temple of
the Holy Ghost. What concord hath Christ with
Belial? What part hath he that believeth in the infidel? What
agreement hath the temple of God with idols? You are the temple
of the living God. As God hath said, I will dwell
in them, and walk in them, and I will be their God, and they
shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among
them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean
thing, and I will receive you, and will be a father unto you,
and you shall be my sons and daughters, said the Lord Almighty. Lord, the Christian is the temple
of the Holy Ghost. He's not then to be one who is
seeking to follow the dictates of the carnal mind. But he desires
more and more to know that mind of the Lord Jesus. And as we
see so clearly in that tremendous passage here in the second chapter
where he goes on to make that great, great statement, a wonderful
portion really on the doctrine of Christ what we have there
from verse 7 following in chapter 2. And it's the humility of Christ,
it's the obedience of Christ. If you live after the flesh you
shall die. If you through the Spirit do
mortify the deeds of the body you shall live. We need the mind
of Christ, we need the Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.
Left to ourselves. what are we? why the man is drawn
away of his own lust and entice and when lust hath finished it
bringeth forth sin and sin brings forth death all we need to be preserved then
from that awful carnality of mind the carnal minded man what
is he? he's in the grip of sin but the
spiritual man He's grieved by indwelling sin. He wants to be
free from it. And that's Paul in Romans 7.
That's what we have in the hymn, isn't it? Take away the love
of sinning, Alpha and Omega be. End of life as its beginning,
set our heart at liberty. Oh, that's what the believer
wants. He doesn't want this God of the carnal-minded man. His glory then is that he delights
in sins. His God is himself and his own
base desires. But what more do we see here
concerning this carnal mind? Well, we see mention also of
the enmity of it. There at the end of verse 18,
they are enemies of the cross of Christ. enemies of the cross
of Christ. How awful! The carnal mind, enmity
against God, not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can
be. So then they that are in the
flesh cannot please God. We read those words, did we not,
just now in that 8th chapter of Romans. Who do we serve? Who do we serve? Who do I serve? Do we really
desire to be those who are the servants of the Lord? We know
why Christ Himself tells us it's not possible to serve two masters. It's not possible to serve two
masters. In the Gospel Christ says no servant can serve
two masters for either he will hate the one and love the other
or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. He cannot
serve God and mammon. It's impossible. Who are we to serve? These who
are carnally minded, they are enemies of the cross of Christ.
How can we, if we profess the name of the Lord Jesus, sin in
view of Christ's cross? and all that the Lord endured
not only of the contradiction of sinners against himself but
all that he endured there of the wrath of God when he comes
and he pours out his holy soul unto death he comes to all the bitterness of those
sufferings previous to the cross we see
him in the garden and there of course in some measure we can
say that the veil is drawn aside and we're looking at the very
soul of Christ contemplating what lies before him the great
sacrifice that he must make all that he must endure and we're
told how he began to be sorrowful and very heavy And then, agonizing in prayers, his sweat
is like drops of blood falling down to the ground. As he cries
out, my God, my God, if it be possible, let this cup pass from
me, nevertheless not my will but thine be done. How he will
be obedient. in spite of all that he feels
now in the very depths of his soul and then of course when
we come to the cross we have the description of his sufferings
in all the gospels and in all the gospels each of the evangelists
goes into some detail because this is the point and purpose
of his coming into this world to make that sacrifice for sins
once and for all And we have those Messianic Psalms
that speak to us repeatedly of Him. And certainly there in the
Psalms we look into His soul and we see what His real sufferings
were. We may read the Gospels and think
of the physical aspect of those sufferings. His body pierced,
all that He endured in the body, not just upon the cross, that
mockery of a trial that he has to endure, the stripes that were
laid upon his back, the crown of thorns that was thrust about
his temples. He's already in physical pain
and anguish before ever he goes to the cross and then how they
drive the nails through his hands, his feet, how the spear is thrust
into his side. We have all that detail we see
that these are very real physical sufferings but as we said before
when we look at the Psalms we see somewhat of the spiritual
aspect of those sufferings Psalm 22 Psalm 69 how he cries out
and what words we have in the language of David there I am
a worm and no man, a reproach of men, despised of the people.
That's how he feels. Why? He humbled himself in the
incarnation when he became a man. He made himself of no reputation,
took upon him the form of a servant, was made in the likeness of men.
That's what we read here in chapter 2 and then In fashion as a man
he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the
death of the cross. Is there humiliation that he
should take to him our frail flesh? And yet there upon the
cross he says, I'm a worm and no man, he's less than a man. That's the language of David
there in the Psalm. That's how the Lord feels in
his very soul. Again in Psalm 69 he cries out,
Reproach! I've broken my heart and I am
full of heaviness. Oh, he feels it in the very depth
of his soul. How can we entertain such a mind
as what's spoken of here in the text? These who mind earthly
things, they are the enemies of the cross of Christ. and all that that cross must
mean to those who know anything of the grace of God there is
no remission of sins without the shedding of blood all our
salvation is there in the sufferings of the Lord Jesus how awful then
is this carnal mind rather surely we must be those who would desire
above everything the mind of the Lord Jesus let this mind
be in you which was also in Christ Jesus. The enmity of the kind of mind
and then finally, solemnly, the end. What is the end? Well what does Paul say? For
many walk of whom I have told you often and now tell you even
weeping that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ whose
end is destruction. That's their end. Their end is
destruction. And Paul, as I say, is such a
feeling man. Many walk of whom I have told
you often and now tell you even weeping. When he gives his exhortation,
we said this morning, he's very faithful. and he sees the need
to repeat these things. I have told you often, he says,
at the beginning of the chapter, to write the same things to you,
to me. Indeed, he's not grievous, but
to you it is safe. He'll repeat his warnings over
and over and over and over again. He'll do that. There's nothing
wrong in repetition. Sometimes it's very necessary.
We know it from Isaiah. It's line upon line, line upon
line, precept upon precept, precept upon precept. It's here a little,
it's there a little. And so Paul is very faithful. He's told them and he'll keep
on telling them. He's told them often, but he
tells them also As a man of deep passion, with
real feelings, I tell you now, weeping. What is that that's such a grief for
you? Well, to be carnally minded is death. That's what he says.
To be carnally minded is death. It was God's is their belly. Their mind is
set on an idol. That's what it is. Their mind
is set on an idol. They make their own gods and
people do it. Even in our day and generation
not making an idol in the sense that you take
a stock of wood and you have it carved and you you cover it
with silver and gold and you dress it up and you bow down
and you worship it that sort of idolatry, but as we said the
carnal mind itself covetousness is idolatry and yet the hearts
of these people is set upon these things and the end will be destruction
destruction or what is the solution? we are to set our mind and our
affections not on the things of the earth remember what this
apostle says in the Colossian epistle chapter 3 if ye then
be risen with Christ seek those things which are above where
Christ sitteth at the right hand of God set your affection on
things above not on things on the earth for you are dead and
your life is hid with Christ in God when Christ who is our
life shall appear then shall you also appear with him in glory
or what we need surely above all things is that mind of the
Lord Jesus Christ these have their idols we all
have our idols but can we say once I after idols ran, but now
my God's a martyred man, can we say that sincerely? There's
our God, even the man Christ Jesus, whose hair upon the cross
was a worm and no man, and yet in the depths of all that humiliation,
what did He do? He vanquished all the powers
of darkness, and He triumphed over sin, over Satan, and then
in the resurrection we see him victorious over death and the
grave. Oh, what a God is this! Brethren, be followers together
of me, he says. Mark them which walk so as ye
have asked for an example. Moving over the parenthesis,
our conversation, our citizenship is in heaven. From whence also
we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall
change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His
glorious body, according to the working whereby He is able even
to subdue all things unto Himself. How can we find deliverance from
carnality of mind? Only in Him. Or that we might
be those then who are favoured with the mind of our Lord Jesus
Christ. The Lord be pleased to bless
his word. Amen.